Biosecurity

CDC labs reportedly sanctioned in secret for mishandling biological warfare agents

Multiple labs run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been sanctioned by federal regulators for mishandling pathogens used in biological warfare, USA Today reported Tuesday.

In one case, a CDC-operated laboratory even had its operating permit suspended “for serious safety violations while working with bioterror pathogens,” the newspaper reported, citing papers pried loose from the government after a long Freedom of Information Act fight.

Secret federal enforcement actions have been taken six times against the CDC’s own labs because of “serious or repeated violations” in handling regulated bioterror-friendly agents, which include such pathogens as anthrax, plague and Ebola, the paper reported.

CDC and the the U.S. Department of Agriculture operate the biolabs and jointly run the Federal Select Agent Program that oversees government, university, military and private labs that handle biological-warfare agents.